Stefan is Silas' doppelganger? Katherine is now human? Bonnie is really dead? These are some of the questions we were asking ourselves at the end of The Vampire Diaries Season 4 finale.While the hour was more emotional than action-packed, the ...

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By TV Guide

Nebraska City News-Press - Nebraska City, NE

By TV Guide

Posted May. 17, 2013 at 6:02 PM

By TV Guide

Posted May. 17, 2013 at 6:02 PM

Stefan is Silas' doppelganger? Katherine is now human? Bonnie is really dead? These are some of the questions we were asking ourselves at the end of The Vampire Diaries Season 4 finale.

While the hour was more emotional than action-packed, the final minutes proved to be series-changing. Not only did Silas reveal the loophole in his spell would allow himself to become his true face - the original to Stefan's doppelganger - but he then staked and threw Stefan (Paul Wesley) to the bottom of the lake. Still following? Elena (Nina Dobrev), meanwhile, was about to be killed by her own doppelganger when she grabbed the cure out of her pocket and shoved it down Katherine's throat, making her mortal. Finally, Bonnie (Kat Graham) lifted the veil, but in the process carried out a spell ensuring her death, but Jeremy's return to life.

With so many finale burning questions, TVGuide.com went straight to the source, executive producer Julie Plec, who shares her insight below.

How long before everyone finds out that Stefan is really Silas? Plec: Truth be told, I don't think it'll be too long. I think that there's more fun to be played with people learning quickly, but independently of the other so there's a lot of good bait-and-switch Katherine-style stuff that could happen early in the season. And people that know Stefan well will be able to catch on pretty quickly I would hope.

Can we expect double Paul Wesley scenes? Plec: Part of the fun of having an actor play two roles are those opportunities to put them face to face, but they're difficult to shoot and they take a lot of time and the stuff we do even with Katherine and Elena we do so sparingly. So we'll definitely see it, but of course Stefan will be on his own journey presumably at the bottom of the [lake] floor so we'll see when and who gets him out of that mess.

Page 2 of 4 - How did Paul feel about the character arc?Plec: He's definitely excited. He's such a good actor, he loves to work and he loves to give everything he has to the role and people who do long-term television series will always jump on the opportunity to spread their wings a little bit.

Can you confirm that Elena was herself and not Silas when she said she was in love with Damon? Plec: Well put it this way, if it wasn't Elena, then that means Stefan/Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder made out. I think a lot of fans would've been happy.

Vampire Diaries Video: Nina Dobrev on Elena's future and her epic fight scene with KatherineWill Katherine try to have people turn her back into a vampire? Plec: Well, given the rules of how one becomes a vampire on our show - which is if you inject vampire blood and then you die with it in your system -that's a pretty big risk to take. If it doesn't work then she's just dead and I think the one thing she's constantly going to weigh is, "How much do I hate being human? Am I willing to risk actually dying forever in order to get my vampirism back?"

Can you imagine a time Elena and Katherine could ever find common ground? Plec: You know I actually think that if they ever sat down and had a bottle of wine and a bag of chips they'd probably realize they have a lot more in common than they think. But they have a lot of hate and bitterness and altogether bad blood there so it might take a couple of bags of chips and a case of wine.

Will Elena still struggle with vampire urges in college?Plec: Well I think the bigger issue for her will be protecting her secret. In Mystic Falls we've seen it's hard enough to keep your secret of who you are and what you are and now she's going out into a whole new location and a new life and living a double life as a human student and a secret vampire. There are going to be some struggles attached to that.

Is it possible that Elena and Damon could be happy together next season? Plec: I think there's never not going to be a moment where they're engaged in some kind of conflict because their relationship even as friends and enemies had a volatility that is frustrating and sexy at the same time. So the question is how long can we keep them happy in spite of the things that come up that put them at odds with each other and that will be part of the journey next season is seeing if these two can really make it as a couple

How long before everyone finds out Bonnie is a ghost? Plec: I think she was pretty clear about Jeremy wanting to keep her secret so I guess we'll see how long he's willing to do that.

What will her role be next season?Plec: The predicament for Bonnie is that she's on the other side so she can pop in and see what's up and who's doing what. With her relationship with Jeremy she'll have information that nobody could access, but she doesn't have the actual ability to do magic or interact with another human so there's an impotence attached to that that I think will be frustrating for her not to mention the emotional distance of not being able to be right there with your friends even though she's there they don't know that she is. So she's going to struggle a bit in the beginning and that'll either strengthen or hurt her budding relationship with Jeremy which already has so many obstacles attached to it.

How will Jeremy struggle being human again? Plec: Jeremy will not have a very easy time of it. His first big hurdle is his cover story for being suddenly alive. So he'll struggle a bit with the return to the normal world.

Where will Matt and Rebekah be when we pick up? Plec: We'll definitely see them when we start up next season. As far as I know they may even still be in Europe when we find them.

In your mind, will Matt ever be turned?Plec: Truth be told that character has a special place in my heart and all of our hearts because he is, as Rebekah said, so beautifully human, and so I don't want to mess with that any time soon.

Will there be a time jump next season?Plec: Definitely our intention is to pick up the beginning of the season as everyone is making their preparations to go to college or whatever it is they're going to do.

Will Tyler be back in the fold full time next season? Plec: We'll definitely see Tyler (Michael Trevino) again and I think the biggest question is where's he been what's he been doing how has it changed his life and can he step right back into the Mystic Falls world or to college easily and what will that mean for his relationship with Caroline.

Page 4 of 4 - With Klaus telling Caroline he wants to be her final love, does that mean there's opportunity for them to actually get to that place? Plec: "You never know" I think is the answer. Right now the biggest hurdle, other than a spin-off separating them, is that he's done some really vile things and I don't think Caroline's in any hurry to jump into bed with someone like that so murderous and violent and manipulative and cruel. And he did, after all, murder her boyfriend's mother. So I think she definitely has a draw to him and a connection with him that she's not even necessarily confident is a good thing. His hurdle will be to get her to finally come around, and he goes on his own redemption journey moving forward: Will he become the kind of man she can one day look at the way she looks at Tyler.

What are you hoping to see in Season 5? Tell us below!

Check out our interview with Joseph Morgan about the finale and The Originals:

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